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Post by Kat on Jun 15, 2005 9:38:44 GMT -5
(I want to play at least a bit through dinner, because I want to play Patria, hehe;)
In only a few short minutes they'd reached the restaurant, Ace casting a final look at Chip, smiling, before pulling open the glass door and stepping inside. The restaurant had a very sophisticated and sleek look to it and Ace was easily the youngest person there. From the way he walked in and nodded at the staff, though, it was obvious that he was a regular customer.
He knew exactly where he was going, heading toward the center of the room where a large fish tank stood. At one table sat a couple, a young woman who looked be in her early twenties and an older man who appeared to be in his late thirties. As they approached the woman noticed them, her lips immediately breaking into a wide smile. She got up, waiting for the to approach. As soon as they were close enough she threw her arms around Ace, kissing his cheek as he kissed hers.
"Why didn't you tell me you'd be coming, love?" She spoke with a light accent, her voice soft and pretty.
"Because I didn't think I would be coming, actually. Anyway, I obviously didn't come alone." Pulling apart slightly from his mother, Ace turned to face Chip. "This is Chip, he's the new IT guy at school, but he also does photography for Gauge, we were just in his studio. Chip, this is my mother, Patria, and this is her boss, Jan Holt."
At the mention of his name Jan stood up, shaking Chip's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Chip. Please, join us for dinner. It's always lovely to meet Ace's friends." He spoke with a light German accent, a friendly smile on his face. After shaking Chip's hand Jan turned to Ace and they kissed on the cheek, obviously comfortable with one another.
Ace took his usual seat facing the fishtank, as Jan and Patria also sat back down. Ace looked back at Chip and smiled, hoping he wouldn't find the situation awkward at all. Jan and Patria had always managed to make his friends feel comfortable. Ace looked back to his mother, a grin on his face.
Speaking in Swedish, Patria addressed Ace. "So, what's the deal with this one? Boyfriend, toy? He's hot, and a photographer. I'm impressed love."
Ace grinned, replying in Swedish. "Not sure yet, to be honest. We only met today, but I like him. We'll see."
Jan, however, looked at Chip and rolled his eyes. "Here we go again with the spy talk. They do this all the time, makes me wonder what they're talking about."
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Post by Cres on Jun 15, 2005 10:11:43 GMT -5
[[lol! Personally, I actually would have understood that last bit even if it had been in actual Swedish ]] Chip smiled the whole time, really surprised over how young Ace's mother appeared. He would never have believed them a mother and a son. He greeted her with a nod, as well as Jan, and sat down next to Ace along the rest of them. He felt himself rather at ease, even though it felt slightly strange to him how warmly he was welcomed. He was used to the cold shoulder. He was slightly startled when the two of them suddenly started talking Swedish. He couldn't understand one bit of it. He grinned to Jan, though. "Too bad we don't have another language between the two of us," he said with a wink. "We could pay it back in full." He looked at Ace and smirked. "Maybe I'll invite you to dine with my family next time, and I'll talk Italian with them the whole night." He winked, not actually feeling that uncomfortable. Whatever they talked of, it was probably private.
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Post by Kat on Jun 15, 2005 10:22:27 GMT -5
"That would be great, Italian is a lovely language. That way at least I wouldn't have to talk to Scarlet. Speaking of which," Ace lightly hit Patria on the arm, "you have got to meet this woman. She's like Rosaline and Constance all rolled into one."
Patria went wide eyed for a moment before laughing. "The stuff nightmares are made of." She grinned and picked up her menu. "Well at least you got here just in time, we hadn't ordered yet. But Lana should be bringing out our calamari anytime soon." Patria looked at Chip, a small grin on her lips. "We always order the grilled calamari as an appetizer, so whenever we make a reservation the chef knows to have the calamari ready within ten minutes of our sitting down. Do you happen to like calamari, Chip?"
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Post by Cres on Jun 15, 2005 10:30:15 GMT -5
Chip smiled though he thought with some amount of fear the meeting between Scarlet and Ace's mother.
"Oh, I like almost any food," he said with a grin. "Grilled, cooked, and... ahh well, perhaps not burned. Dan did keep trying to introduce me to burned food during university on his cooking turns, but I must say I don't have the stomach for that."
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Post by Kat on Jun 15, 2005 10:33:26 GMT -5
"Lovely, I like you already." Patria laughed, returning to the menu. Jan laid his down, having decided already what he was going to order.
"So where did you go to school, Chip? What program were you in?" Jan picked up his glass of water, taking a sip and putting it back on the table.
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Post by Cres on Jun 17, 2005 1:05:53 GMT -5
Chip somehow got the distinct feeling of being interviewed by the parents of a new boyfriend. He had to grin to that thought.
"Boarding school. Computer science," he answered while eying his menu. He chose his meal quickly and then placed it on the table, leaning back in his chair. "My turn. What is it exactly that you do... hmm, Patria?"
He realised suddenly that he had never asked Ace for his last name, and he hadn't introduced his mother with her last name.
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Post by Kat on Jun 17, 2005 8:50:42 GMT -5
"Boarding school? That's intriguing." Jan smiled, honestly interested in what Chip had to say.
Patria closed her menu and laid it down, looking at Chip. "What do I do? Well, Jan here is co-owner of a company by the name of Holt and Crawford, marketing and advertising giants. I used to be the team leader for our number one advertising team, basically in charge of the advertising programs for some of our largest clients. However, just recently I was promoted to the top division executive sales and advertising manager, which basically means that I now run the entire department, instead of just one team."
"Which even more basically means that she does all of my grunt work, my second in command if you will." Jan grinned, winking at Chip.
"Mm, yes. I do the dirty work, keeping the clients happy. It's a great deal of fun, actually. I get to travel a lot." As Patria continued talking about the perks of her job, of which there were many, Ace quietly looked at his menu. From the moment she'd mentioned travelling, his face had taken on a bit of a sad expression, without him even realizing it. It wasn't until Patria nudged his arm that he looked up at her.
"What?" He hadn't been paying attention, trying to keep himself from thinking about how often she was away.
She just shook her head, a smile on her face. "I said don't make any plans for Christmas, I've got something in the works." She winked at him, his upset state not having registered with her at all.
At the mention of plans for Christmas, though, a smile came back to his face. "What plans? It better be something good to make up for last year." He frowned at her momentarily, jokingly making reference to the previous year that she'd been away.
"You're making me feel so guilty, stop bringing that up. I promise this year will definitely make up for it. In a big way." Patria smiled and squeezed his arm, and Ace was back to feeling happy again.
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Post by Cres on Jun 17, 2005 9:15:28 GMT -5
Though Chip was listening to Patria with some amount of interest, his keen eyes didn't miss out on Ace's expression while she kept talking about travelling. He had already deduced there was a very warm relationship between him and his mother, and he guessed his mother's travelling bothered Ace, at least when he couldn't go with her, he suspected. From the first moment Ace didn't strike as an especially lonely person, but when you got past the superficial layer, another picture began to assert itself.
Chip smiled a bit to the way Patria quickly remedied the situation with such a simple promise. His own expression had grown a little less cheerful. He had learned from early on not to trust his father's promises about making up for lost Christmases or birthdays or things like that. Chip had considered himself an orphan already for years.
But he chose not to think about that. Instead, he smiled to the mother and son.
"I must say," he said lightly, "that it's rare to see such a good relationship between a parent and a child as you two have. Makes me want to become Swedish." He grinned.
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Post by Kat on Jun 17, 2005 10:08:29 GMT -5
Patria smiled and moved her chair closer to Ace, putting her arm around his shoulders and hugging him. "Who wouldn't want to be close to this kid? He's the ideal of perfection, I couldn't be a happier mother." She kissed his cheek and laid her head against his, while he couldn't help but smile.
"Why do I get the feeling you're about to spring some bad news on me?" He grinned and turned his head to look at her.
"Oh stop it, can't I praise you without you worrying that I'm just buttering you up? I actually have some good news, though. Well you already knew that I'll be away next week for a conference, but I decided to take the weekend off and stay at home. I was thinking we could have a spa day Saturday, it's been a few months since we've gone together. You interested?"
Ace sat up, visibly excited. "Of course! I haven't been since we went to Europe after all, Penny probably misses me." He turned to Chip, a smile on his face. "There's a spa in our building, Penny is my masseuse. I usually go for a massage once a week and it's all mom's fault. She spoils me horribly."
"Well what else can I do with you?" She kissed his cheek once more before pulling her chair back to her spot, noticing that their waiter was on her way over with their basket of calamari. "Have you ever been to the spa, Chip? You're welcome to come too if you like."
"Yeah, we'll be doing the whole deal, massage, pedicure, manicure, facial, and possibly shopping and supper after. She's made me into such a metrosexual." He laughed, glancing back at his mother.
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Post by Cres on Jun 17, 2005 10:51:56 GMT -5
Chip had to grin excitedly. It sounded absolutely divine, and besides it would allow him to stay out of home for the weekend. He always had trouble figuring out excuses why he couldn't spend his freetime at home.
"Oh... are you sure?" he had to ask, however. "I wouldn't want to intrude."
And then, it did feel a little strange spending a day like that with Ace and his mother... though, he had to admit, it was a nice kind of strange for a change.
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Post by Kat on Jun 17, 2005 12:33:11 GMT -5
"No, come! Maybe we'll just have supper at home afterwards, you can cook, love." Patria grinned and winked at Ace.
"But I cooked last time! Damn it woman, you're the one who's supposed to be taking care of me, not the other way around." Ace pouted, trying his best to look upset, though he was in reality amused and had no problem cooking. He'd cooking for himself for the past five years, after all.
"I'm just preparing you for later on in life, that's all." Patria laughed, reaching up to accept the basket of calamari that their waitress had just arrived with. She set it down on the table in the middle, placing a few of the rings on her plate.
"Yes, Ace is going to make someone a lovely wife one day." Jan grinned and reached forward, taking a few pieces of the fried seafood for himself.
Ace sunk back in his chair, crossing his arms and looking at Chip. "I'm getting attacked here."
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Post by Cres on Jun 18, 2005 5:48:56 GMT -5
Chip laughed.
"What? I can just imagine you busying yourself in the kitchen wearing a cute little apron saying 'kiss the cook'." He winked. "Must say I just might take the opportunity." Then he grew more serious and looked at Patria with a smile. "If you're sure, I'd love to come. It's ages since I've had a decent manicure the last." He spread his fingers and gazed at them disapprovingly. "I must say I've let myself quite let go."
A total lie, of course, since his body was in perfect trim and the muscles that showed from under the sleeveless shirt and the black leather vest rippled with strength every time he moved. But he loved ever so much to pamper himself with treats like manicure and massage and all that. Although he had to admit he had rather unique fantasies for just whom he'd like to give that massage to him.
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Post by Kat on Jun 18, 2005 9:49:14 GMT -5
Ace looked at Chip in shock, his mouth open. "You too? You guys are all horrible." The pouty looks returning to his face, Ace reached over to take the appetizer, placing a few pieces of calamari on his plate, going for the tentacles, which were his favourite. He didn't speak again, focusing solely on the food to convey that he was upset with his dinner company.
Patria and Jan had laughed, amused that Chip had joined in on the teasing. Patria smiled when Chip addressed her though. "That's wonderful! Too many men think spa visits are too womanly, bloody idiots. You're just continually proving to be a better guy as each moment passes."
***okay well if you want, we can skip ahead to the end of dinner now, since it would just all be small talk and eating food***
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Post by Cres on Jun 19, 2005 3:26:02 GMT -5
[[ok I'll jump them forward then]]
After dinner, which was quite relaxing for Chip, he noticed that if he was planning on going to the club that evening, he'd better start get going. He wasn't one of those who worry about home coming hours, but he knew his old man would be furious if he caught him sneaking home at 3 am or something.
Chip was slightly reluctant to ditch his company, however - Patria and Jan were nicer than he'd expected. He was quite feeling at home with Ace's mother and her boss. So his apologetic expression was rather genuine as he looked at the others after wiping his mouth on the napkin.
"Well, this was certainly wonderful," he said, "but I've got some plans for the night, so I'm afraid I'll have to run." He was a little hesitant as to how to get Ace alone for a moment to ask him to come with him. Or should he have asked him with the others there? He wasn't sure which way to go about it. Ace and his mother appeared to have a rather open relationship, but just how obvious Chip himself wanted to be... he wasn't sure. Then he decided on a strategy and smiled to the others. "I was planning on going clubbing a little," he added.
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Post by Kat on Jun 19, 2005 17:19:35 GMT -5
Ace glanced at him, trying to decide if he wanted to follow Chip or not. He did feel like going out dancing, now that he thought about it. So he smiled and met Chip's gaze. "Where are you going? Maybe I'll come."
"Oh, I remember the days when I could go out on a work night, get no sleep then spend all day at the office. Can't quite do that anymore, I'd probably fall asleep in my office." Patria grinned and sipped from her glass of wine.
"Mm, I agree. My old age requires a good amount of sleep unfortunately." Jan grinned and downed the remainder of his wine, looking back at Ace and Chip. "Enjoy it while it lasts."
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